Minelab Sovereign 180 mod

[Dave Lotek]

I'm new to the forum and am interested in buying a Sovereign. In the Metal Detector Reviews web site someone mentioned the 180 Mod. Could someone explain this mod to me. Thanks

 

[chuck ky]

if you have a meter that reads 550 on a quarter this mod changes it to 180.

 

[Rick(ND)]

Like Chuck says it is a mod for the meter of the Sovereign. When Minelab first came out with a meter for the Sovereign in the early 1990s it was a bar graph and really didn't go over that good. Sun Ray made one that was digital numbers that read 179-180 for a good copper coin or silver and clad. This meter went over good and Minelab then made a digital meter that read 550 when calibrated for a good coin, but seem to bounce around more. Someone did a mod on that meter so it too would read 180 and Ken W got a kit made up he would sell and the instruction were on his site so people could buy this kit and take their 550 meters and make them 180 meter. Now with the new Sovereigns GT Minelab has made a new meter that will read 180 right from them so you don't need to to the mod anymore. I like the 180 meter as I find I can tell those close tones that my ears cant tell the difference, but the meter will. To give you a example the new zinc pennies and the older copper sound the same, but the zinc penny and IH will read 176-177 while my good coins will read 179-180. This is the same with the nickle as beaver tails off the old pull tabs sound the same and many detector read the same, but on the Sovereign my nickles read 144-145 while the beaver tails read 140-141. Some of the newer pull tabs will read 167-173 and sound close to the zinc penny, but the meter will tell me it is not. Only time I like to dig other numbers is when it is deeper sounding as chance are it will not be a pull tab unless the area has been filled or the ground turned.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

As I preferred the 550 and have used the 180..Just a matter of what you get used to..Seems to me when you break a meter down to 550 instead of 180 you get a more accurate reading, just do the Sov. wiggle and master the tones and you should excell with the Sov...with either meter...

 

[Art (NWOH)]

I really like the XS2 meter in 550. Can't stand the Elete meter in 550 it's too slow.

 

[Daniel A.]

There is a sunray 180 meter for sale on treasurenet.

 

[Dave Lotek]

Thanks for your input. I found a used Sovereign XS and have been hanging around some of the mod pages. It seems from what I've read it's a good machine even without some of the tweaks. I thought long and hard about the new Explorer and new Sov, but I seem to feel better about this one. Any advise is appreciated. Thanks Dave